Adjustable elevation device for floor drains

Abstract: The present invention relates to an elevating device (6) at floor drains (1), which elevating device (6) comprises an elevating member (7) directed upwards from the floor drain (1) and a flange member (8) provided on top of said elevating member (7). For being able to adapt one and the same elevating member (7) to substantially different floor levels relative to the floor drain (1), the elevating member (7) and flange member (8) are two separate members which can be separated from each other for exposure of upper portions of the elevating member (7), said upper portions of the elevating member (7) can after the exposure be cut for reducing the original height (UH) of said elevating member (7) to the desired height (H), the flange member (8) can once again be located on the elevating member (7) after said elevating member (7) has been cut to the desired height (H), and the elevating member (7) has threads (10) provided thereon for screwing the flange member (8) onto the elevating member (7) such that said flange member (8) can be screwed onto the threads (10) left on the remaining part of the elevating member (7) after cutting thereof to the desired height (H).

Description: The present invention relates to an elevation device for floor drains, which device comprises an elevation member directed upwards from the floor drain and a flange member provided on top of said elevating member. When a floor is cast, the floor drain is usually located somewhat too low for not risking that it protrudes above the floor and thereby obstructs the flow of water down into the floor drain. The floor drain must thereafter often be provided with an elevating device, the flange of which is located flush with the floor level such that a floor mat via the elevation device can be connected to the floor drain with the required sealing. Elevation devices are also used when a new floor is cast on top of an existing floor. Hereby, the elevation device is placed close to the floor drain provided in the existing floor, whereby a flange member of the elevation device is brought flush with the new floor level. Hereby, the floor mat on the new floor level can be brought down into the flange member and secured close thereto by means of a clamping ring. In this way, water can flow down into the floor drain, although the floor level is raised above the drain. Elevation devices with this function are already known from e.g. applicant's own SE 343 358 and US-A-4,694,513. However, it has been noticed that one must manufacture and store several different types of elevation devices in order to cover the present need, since elevation devices with a certain height fit into floor layers with a certain thickness, but not into floor layers with another thickness. The object of the present invention is to eliminate this problem and provide an elevation device which is easily adaptable to the floor level in question and to all existing thicknesses of new floor layers. This is arrived at according to the invention substantially while the elevation device defined above has the characterizing features of subsequent claim 1. Since according to the invention the elevation member can be cut at the top and the flange member thereafter mounted on the cut elevation member, one and the same elevation device can be adapted to the floor level in question and to the thickness of new floor layers irrespective of said layers being thick or thin. The threads provided on the elevation member prevent the flange member from being pulled off the elevation member. It is also possible to compensate the total height of the elevation device if too large a portion of the elevation member is cut off. The invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein fig. 1 is a vertical section through a floor drain with the members of the elevation device according to the invention brought apart; fig. 2 is an identical section through the same members put together; fig. 3 is a plan view from below of a portion of a flange member forming part of the elevation device of fig. 1; fig. 4 is a plan view of a mounting member forming part of the elevation device of fig. 1; and fig. 5 is a vertical section through an alternative embodiment of the elevation device according to the invention. In figs. 1 and 2 there is shown a floor drain 1 having an upwardly open through-flow member 2 for letting in water from above and which preferably has a circular or substantially circular cross section. A laterally directed outlet pipe member 3 extends from the through-flow member 2, whereby the bottom portions 4 of the through-flow member 2 and the bottom portions 5 of the laterally directed outlet pipe member 3 in this embodiment are situated at the same level. The elevation device 6 belonging to the floor drain 1 includes an elevation member 7 and a separate flange member 8. The elevation member 7 is here integral with the floor drain 1 and made in one piece therewith. This elevation member 7 preferably has a circular or substantially circular cross section and the same diameter as the through-flow member 2. The elevation member 7 extends upwards from the through-flow member 2 and it has an original height UH. The flange member 8 is in this case adapted to be mounted on the elevation member 7 through a mounting means 9 after said elevation member 7 has been cut with a suitable tool, e.g. a saw, such that its original height UH has been reduced to a desired height H. The elevation member 7 is preferably cut in those upper portions provided with threads 10 and preferably along a section at the bottom of one of the external threads 10. The external threads 10 of the elevation member 7 begin at the upper edge 11 of said member 7 and extend to a level adjacent a bottom portion 12 of such a recessed part 13 of upper portions 14 of the laterally directed outlet pipe member 3 which is situated closest to the elevation member 7. Hereby, it is possible to cut the elevation member 7 at the level LN flush with or substantially flush with the upper portions 14 of the laterally directed outlet pipe member 3 (which means that the floor drain becomes very low), since there are still external threads 10 below this level LN to screw on the flange member 8 through the mounting means 9. If there is no such recessed part 13, the external threads 10 may end flush with or substantially flush with the upper portions 14 of the outlet pipe member 3. The external threads 10 are thus provided such that the flange member 8 through the mounting means 9 can be screwed onto the threads 10 left on the remaining part of the elevation member 7 after cutting thereof to the desired height H. Preferably, the mounting means 9 is connectable to the flange member 8 (or vice versa) such that said flange member 8 and mounting means 9 form a unit. To enable this interconnection, the flange member 8 includes axially directed snap-in portions 15 and the mounting means 9 axially directed snap-in portions 16. These snap-in portions 15, 16 are shaped such that they permit snap-in locking of the flange member 8 and mounting means 9 together, and such that said flange member and mounting means thereafter can not be rotated relative to each other. The flange member 8 has e.g. eight snap-in portions 15 shaped as protrusions 17 of which each has an upwardly/outwardly inclined surface 18 which at the top is attached to a horizontal surface 19. The mounting means 9 has eight snap-in portions 16 shaped as recesses 20 into which the protrusions 17 of the flange member 8 fit. Each recess 20 is open in inwards direction, is somewhat wider than the associated protrusion 17 and has at the top a horizontally directed tongue 21 which transforms into a downwardly directed portion 22. The recess 20 is laterally limited by wall portions 23, 24 which connect the tongue 21 and the downwardly directed portion 22 with portions of the mounting means 9 provided within said tongue 21 and downwardly directed portion 22 (see fig. 4). Snap-in locking of the flange member 8 and mounting means 9 to each other is carried out by threading the mounting means 9 onto the flange member 8 (or vice versa) so that the protrusions 17 of the flange member 8 slide into the recesses 20 of the mounting means 9. Since those portions of the mounting means 9 which define the recesses 20 are flexible, the flexible tongue 21 can snap in behind the horizontal surface 19 of the protrusion 17, whereby the flange member 8 and mounting means 9 are locked to each other. The flange member 8 also has an annular shape and comprises an upper flange 25 which is somewhat inclined in inwards direction and which deflects downwards and transforms into a downwardly directed portion 26 on the outside of which the protrusions 17 are located. The downwardly directed portion 26 transforms down below into an inwardly directed portion 27, the outside of which is adapted to engage the upper edge 11 of the elevating member 7 and the inside of which is adapted to define a seat surface for a clamping ring 28. This clamping ring 28 is adapted to clamp a floor mat 29 which is bent down into the flange member 8 such that sealing is obtained between said floor mat 29 and flange member 8. The inwardly directed portion 27 of the flange member 8 transforms into a lower portion 30 which down below is provided with a seat 31 for a sealing ring 32. This lower portion 30 can be brought down into the elevating member 7, whereby the sealing ring 32 sees to that sealing is obtained between the flange member 8 and the inside of the elevation member 7. The mounting means 9 has an internal thread 33 and when this thread 33 during insertion of the flange member 8 into the elevation member 7 reaches the external threads 10 of said elevation member 7, the mounting means 9 can be screwed onto the elevation member 7 by rotating the flange member 8 and thereby also said mounting means 9, which thus operates as a nut means. The screwing of the flange member 8 onto the elevating member 7 can continue until the outside of the inwardly directed portion 27 of said flange member 8 engages the upper edge 11 of said elevation member 7 (see fig. 2). After the elevation member 7 has been cut to the desired height H and the floor drain 1 located in the desired position relative to the floor level 34 (see fig. 2), the flange member 8 is moved down into the elevation member 7 and rotated to be screwed onto said elevation member 7 by means of the mounting means 9. When the flange member 8 in this way is brought into the desired position relative to the floor level 34, the floor mat 29 is bent down into the flange member 8 and attached thereto by means of the clamping ring 28. A waterseal insert 35, i.e. an insert including a waterseal, can be provided on the flange member 8. Such waterseal inserts are known per se and can alternatively be mounted in the floor drain 1 in other ways. On top of the clamping ring 28 there is normally provided a grating (not shown) for letting water but not larger objects into the floor drain. The alternative elevating device 36 illustrated in fig. 5 is adapted for use in connection with casting (or in other ways forming) a new floor 37 on top of an already existing floor 38 with a floor drain 39 having a flange portion 40. In this case the elevating device 36 includes a separate elevation member 41 which can be mounted on the floor drain 39. In order to make this possible, the elevation member 41 has a lower coupling portion 42 which is insertable into the flange portion 40 of the floor drain 39, preferably until it with an end edge engages an inwardly directed wall portion down below at the flange portion 40. The coupling portion 42 can be fixed to the flange portion in any suitable way, e.g. by snap-in locking, such that a strong grip therebetween is obtained. In order to provide the required sealing, the lower coupling portion 42 can include an outer sealing ring 43 which is adapted to sealingly engage the flange portion 40. The lower coupling portion 42 of the elevating device 36 preferably has no threads, but the remaining parts from said portion 42 to the upper edge 11 of the elevation member 41 have threads 10 in the same way as the elevation member 7. The flange member 8 used at the elevation member 7 and the mounting means 9 used at the elevation member 7, can also be used at the elevation member 41. In this case, the elevation member 41 is cut to a desired height H which is depending on the thickness of the new floor 37. At the alternative device according to fig. 5, either a waterseal insert 35A is located at the flange portion 40 of the floor drain already present or a waterseal insert 35B is located at the flange member 8. Regarding the mounting means 9 it should be mentioned that it preferably also has an inner edge 44 which is adapted to engage the outside of the inwardly directed portion 27 of the flange member 8 when the mounting means 9 is locked by a snap-in action to the flange member 8, whereby said mounting means 9 can be brought to a locking engagement with the flange member 8 without clearance is axial direction. The elevation members 7, 41 can include portions with right-hand threads 10 (as in figs. 1 and 2) or eventually left-hand threads 10 (as in fig. 5). The flange member 8 can preferably be screwed onto the elevation member 7 or 41 so that it will be possible to compensate the total height of the elevation device if one cuts off too large a portion of the elevation member 7 or 41. This is done by screwing the flange member 8 in upwards direction on the elevation member 7 or 41 until the elevation device has reached the desired total height. The invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and illustrated in the drawings, but may vary within the scope of the following claims. Thus, it should be noticed that the floor drain as well as the elevation device can be made of plastic or eventually of metal, the floor drain can be of another type than shown, the flange member can be screwed directly onto or in any other way directly positionable on the elevation member instead of using a mounting means; if a mounting means is used, said mounting means can be attached to the elevation member in any other way than by screwing, the elevation member can be shaped in another way than shown, the elevation member can be cut by means of a saw or by treatment in other ways with other tools, the flange member and mounting means can have another shape than shown and the mounting means can have a thread with only one turn or eventually several threads if required.

Claims: Elevation device at floor drains, which elevation device (6, 36) comprises an elevation member (7, 41) directed upwards from the floor drain (1, 39) and a flange member (8) provided on top of said elevation member (7, 41), the elevation member (7, 41) and flange member (8) being two separate members which can be separated from each other for exposure of upper portions of the elevation member (7, 41), characterized in that said upper portions of the elevating member (7, 41) after the exposure can be cut for reducing the original height (UH) of said elevation member (7, 41) to the desired height (H), that the flange member (8) once again can be located on the elevation member (7, 41) after said elevation member (7, 41) has been cut to the desired height (H), and that the elevation member (7, 41) has threads (10) provided thereon for screwing the flange member (8) onto the elevation member (7, 41) such that said flange member (8) can be screwed onto the threads (10) left on the remaining part of the elevation member (7, 41) after cutting thereof to the desired height (H). Elevation device according to claim 1, characterized in that the flange member (8) can be screwed onto the elevation member (7, 41) in such a way that it can be screwed in upwards direction on said elevation member (7, 41) in order to thereby increase the total height of the elevation device for compensation of this total height if too large a portion of the elevation member (7, 41) has been cut off. Elevation device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the elevation member (7, 41) can be cut at such upper portions provided with the threads (10) and preferably along a section at the bottom of an external thread (10) on the elevation member (7, 41). Elevation device according to any of claims 1 - 3, characterized in that the portions of the elevation member (7, 41) provided with threads extend from the lower parts of the elevation member (7, 41) to its upper edge (11). Elevation device according to any of claims 1 - 4, characterized in that the flange member (8) can be mounted on the elevation member (7, 41) through a mounting means (9) which preferably is connectable with the flange member (8) such that it forms a unit therewith. Elevation device according to claim 5, characterized in that a lower portion (30) of the flange member (8) can be inserted into the elevation member (7, 41) such that said lower portion (30) through at least one sealing ring (32) sealingly engages the inside of the elevation member (7, 41) and that the mounting means (9) cooperates with the outside of the elevation member (7, 41) for retaining the flange member (8) at said elevation member (7, 41). Elevation device according to claim 6, characterized in that the mounting means (9) can be screwed onto threaded portions (10) of the elevation member (7, 41) until the flange member (8) engages an upper edge (11) of the elevation member (7, 41). Elevation device according to claim 7, characterized in that the mounting means (9) is a separate member which can be located on the flange member (8) in such a way that it can be screwed onto the threads (10) of the elevation member (7, 41) by being rotated by means of the flange member (8). Elevation device according to claim 8, characterized in that the flange member (8) and mounting means (9) are provided with axially directed snap-in portions (15, 16) which are shaped such that said flange member (8) and mounting means (9) can be brought together by a snap-in action without thereafter being capable of rotating relative to each other. Elevation device according to claim 9, characterized in that the mounting means (9) is formed as a nut means and connectable to the flange member (8) by a snap-in action. Elevation device according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the flange member (8) is provided with snap-in portions (15) in the shape of protrusions (17) and that the mounting means (9) is provided with snap-in portions (16) shaped as recesses (20) into which the protrusions of the flange member (8) fit, whereby the recesses (20) of the mounting means (9) is formed by a flexible tongue which can be brought to yield for passing the protrusions (17) of the flange member (8) and thereafter return for hook-up within said protrusions (17). Elevation device according to any of claims 6-10, characterized in that the mounting means (9) has only one thread (33) which runs there-around in only one turn. Elevating device according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the elevation member (7) and floor drain (1) are members made integral with each other. Elevation device according to claim 13, characterized in that the elevation member (7) can be cut in level (LN) with or substantially in level with upper portions (14) of a laterally directed outlet pipe member (3) forming part of the floor drain (1). Elevation device according to claim 14, characterized in that the elevation member (7) has such threads (10) for screwing on the flange member (8) which begin in level with or substantially in level (LN) with upper portions of the laterally directed outlet pipe member (3). Elevation device according to any of claims 13-15, characterized in that the upper portions (14) of the laterally directed outlet pipe member (3) closest to the elevation member (7) include a recessed part (13) and that the threads of the elevating member (7) run down to a level adjacent the bottom portion (12) of said recessed part (13). Elevation device according to any of claims 13-16, characterized in that a waterseal insert (35) can be placed on the flange member (8) in such a way that said insert (35) is hanging down into the floor drain (1). Elevation device according to any of claims 1-12, characterized in that the elevation member (41) can be mounted on the floor drain (39) and that the elevation member (41) has a lower coupling portion (42) through which it can be connected to a flange portion (40) on the floor drain (1) by a snap-in action when an end edge of the lower coupling portion (42) engages an inwardly directed wall portion of the flange portion (40). Elevation device according to claim 18, characterized in that the elevation member (41) is provided with threads from said coupling portion (42) to its upper edge (11) to permit fastening with screws of the flange member (8). Elevation device according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the elevation member (7, 41) has a circular or substantially circular cross section and is down below attached to or connectable with a through-flow member (2) of the floor drain (1, 39) having a circular or substantially circular cross section with the same or substantially the same diameter as the elevation member (7, 41), whereby a laterally directed outlet pipe member (3) extends from the through-flow member (2), the bottom portions (5) of said outlet pipe member (3) are situated at the same level or substantially the same level as the bottom portions (4) of the through-flow member (2).

Inventors: ANDERSSON LEIF ESKIL, ANDERSSON, LEIF ESKIL
Applicants: SJOEBO BRUK AB, AB SJOEBO BRUK
Application year: 1994
Main classification: E03F5
IPC codes: E03F5